Notes: Strong seeding but not a lot of field depth…(4) Tomic will start against the Querrey-Baghdatis winner…Top 4 seeds receive opening-round byes…Wildcards went to Berdych, Swede Mike Ymer and Finn Jarkko Nieminen…Last year Berdych came from a set down to beat Dimitrov in the final…Berdych trying to become the first Stockholm back-to-back winner since James Blake (2005-06)…Former champs in the field are Berdych (2014,’12), Dimitrov (2013), and Baghdatis (2009).

Notes: One of the toughest 28-draw fields of the year with seven Top 10 players among the seeds, and more dangerous floaters than seeds…Challenging starts for (1) Serena after a bye vs. the Kleybanova-Makarova winner, (5) Jankovic after a bye vs. the Stephens-Safarova winner…

Notes: Sam Stosur still injured?…Tough draws for (3) Vesnina against the Puerto Rican riser Puig, and (5) Pennetta against the former No. 1 Venus…Venus on the small-tournament guarantee-cash circuit this year?…Wildcards went to Aussies Casey Dellacqua, Olivia Rogowska and Storm Sanders…Storm Sanders is an awesome sports name, period…Pulling from the tournament were Nadia Petrova, Ashleigh Barty and Stefanie Voegele…Vesnina in last year’s final beat Barthel…Returning former champs in the field are Vesnina (2013), Barthel (2012), and Jie Zheng (2005).

Notes: Two-time defending champ Serena Williams obviously didn’t like the under-the-table appearance fee to appear in Stanford, passing on the event and last week playing the tiny Swedish Open in Bastad, which was willing to pony-up some major cash…Tough starts are (1) Radwanska after a bye possibly facing the former Slam champ Schiavone, (8) Rybarikova vs. the explosive Keys, and (2) Stosur after a bye likely facing the powerful Goerges….Wildcards went to American Nicole Gibbs and Croat Ajla Tomljanovic…Pulling from the event were Marion Bartoli (hamstring), Kirsten Flipkens, Sabine Lisicki (wrist), and Maria Sharapova (hip)…Since 1990, 20 of the 23 champions have been Slam winners, but this year there are no returning champions in the field.

Women’s Notes: Sterling field featuring six of the Top 10…Wildcards went to Stosur, Na, and Brits Johanna Konta and Elena Baltacha…Four former Slam champs in the field…Tough starts for (8) Petrova vs. (WC) Stosur, (5) Wozniacki vs. the defending champ Paszek, (7) Ivanovic vs. the crafty Russian Vesnina, and (2) Na vs. Cornet, then either Bartoli or Flavia Pennetta…No. 55-ranked American Christina McHale was the last direct acceptance in the quality field…Pulling from the event were Sara Errani, Yaroslava Shvedova and Sloane Stephens…Former champs in the field are Paszek (2012), Bartoli (2011), Eraterina Makarova (2010), Wozniacki (2009), and Radwanska (2008).

“I think Victoria is the player to beat,” Williams said. “She has won I don’t know how many tournaments this year alone. That’s an amazing amount. So if you look at the stats, you just have to put her up there as the player to beat.”

Kuznetsova is the defending champ, and Wozniacki could take over the No. 1 spot on the WTA Rankings this week with a deep run. Wozniacki is 0-6 career against the Williams sisters. The only four Top 20 players missing are the Williams sisters, Clijsters and Justine Henin.

The development was that Montreal’s star power suddenly began to dip with all the pull-outs, and Lapierre came back to Ivanovic with the wildcard offer — which she promptly told him, in so many words, to stick up his ass.

The sadly-slowing American drumbeat goes on this week at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open. World No. 1 Serena Williams is sidelined with a cut foot, and elder sister Venus is out with a tweaked knee. No Americans are seeded, and only one American, Melanie Oudin, got directly into the main draw via her ranking (barely).